In the small troublesome city of Baltimore, there grew a set of twins. As a matter a fact, these were twins not by birth, but by heart. There paths intersected when Wes Moore had just finished his bachelors at Johns Hopkins and was headed to Oxford University, when he received a phone call. It was his mother, Joy Moore, as he answered his mother told him that in their neighborhood were many wanted posters of a man named Wes Moore. The poster read, do not approach he is dangerous, contact police. His mother’s anxiety abated when she found out that her son had no connection to the crime. He later went on to write a letter to the other Wes Moore about his past. He started to learn that both had grown up fatherless, they had altercations with the police, both grew up in the same neighborhood, they had difficult childhoods. …show more content…
He said that four men entered a jewelry store, including himself and his brother, Richard Moore. Two were smashing jewelry cases and the other two were keeping everyone on the ground with their guns. Once one of the four guys yells “let’s go” they meet at the back of the store with about $400,000 worth of jewelry. One of the people at the jewelry store was an off duty police officer, who was working as a security guard. He was working that day because he was a father of five who had recently had triplets and needed to support his growing family. As the criminals ran to their vehicles, the off duty police officer ran towards the criminals in order to stop them. So he leaned on the side of a vehicle looking for the criminal’s vehicle. What he did not know was that the vehicle he was leaning on was the car the criminals were in. Therefore, a man rolled down the window and shot the police officer once in the head and twice in the chest. Two weeks later he was sentenced with life without the possibility of parole. Men with the same upbringing ended up in opposite places in
In dense urban environments gangs are like ice cream trucks and drugs are the treats. In The Other Wes Moore, many social problems arise to affect two young boys throughout their life. Gang violence, drugs, and teen pregnancy alter the lives of these two young boys.
In the book, The Other Wes Moore, Wes Moore discusses several topics that are relevant in today’s society, such as crime, race, teenage pregnancy, and family. In the book, Wes Moore describe two peoples’ fate and their upbringing on the streets of the Bronx and how with little to no parental support, a child cannot grow up and become successful. Wes vividly depicts the parallels between his life and the other Wes Moore life. Wes Moore, grew up in a loving, caring household, and yet- the streets of the Bronx were taking over his life. Wes was skipping school, spray painting, and he was leading his life down the wrong path. Wes showed us through this book how his life could have been through the “other” Wes Moore, whose life did lead down that
“The Other Wes Moore” is a story that follows two boys with the exact same name who start off living very similar lives in Baltimore, Maryland. One of the boys live on to be an extremely successful man and the other one is living the rest of his life behind bars. The two men wondered how their strikingly similar path diverged into two completely different fates and then an argument formed. Are people products of their choices or their environment and expectations thrown upon them? The book proves that people are products of their choices. Both Wes Moores were raised by a single mom in the tough streets of Baltimore and they both were rebellious children who got arrested at a young age. Their similarities lessened as their choices and their mom’s choices contrasted. The more fortunate Wes was sent to Military school and he chose to make the most of it and become the best version of himself. His determination and hard work trumped his previous hooligan mindset, therefore his future was bright and fulfilling. The other Wes chose to follow his brother,
In Wes Moore’s 2010 book “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates,” two men with the same name, born blocks apart who are raised in an identical poverty and drug plagued neighborhood are examined. What author Wes Moore discovers in his conversations with inmate Wes Moore, is that their lives were remarkably similar growing up. Given their current situations in life, their paths to get there take shape through a series of interchangeable decisions and life events. One Wes through mentorship in decision-making ends up a Rhodes Scholar and decorated war veteran, while the other Wes minus the mentoring ends up in prison serving a life sentence. The age-old cry, “It takes a village,” resonates in Moore’s examination of his mirrored upbringing.
Many people would say we are all just products of our environment. For two young boys from Baltimore, this could not be truer. In “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates,” written by Wes Moore, two fatherless, young boys growing up in the same neighborhood with the same name, end up on two entirely different paths of life. The author becomes a Rhodes Scholar, college graduate, veteran, and much more, while the “other” Wes gets deeply involved with the drug game and spends most of his life in trouble with the law. When these boys come from such similar backgrounds, how is it that they take such different journeys in life? The reason why one Wes Moore became mixed up with drugs and the law, and
Choices, whether small or large, play an important factor in the paths people take in life. In The Other Wes Moore, there are two men with the same name who turn out very differently; today, one is an accomplished scholar and decorated veteran, while the other is a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in prison. But they grew up in very similar circumstances; both grew up fatherless in heavily drug influenced neighborhoods and often ran into trouble with the police. In the search of finding what led him and the other man down such different paths, Wes Moore finds and shows in The Other Wes Moore that it is the choices a person makes that determines their fate in life.
In the book The Other Wes Moore, it has two different guys with the same name but different lives. Wes one, had a good family to take care of him. Wes two, wasn’t so fortunate, his family didn’t really care about him. I’ve never been in a situation like this but if you grow up like this on the streets and you want off bad enough you will do whatever it takes. You make your own life no one else.
“This is a story of two boys living in Baltimore with similar histories and an identical name: Wes Moore. One of us is free… The other will spend every day until his death behind bars...” (Moore, XI) In The Other Wes Moore, the author, Wes Moore, and the other Wes Moore both grew up in similar, yet different, circumstances and had completely different outcomes. This captivating narrative demonstrates how the choices you make, make you. In the introduction, the author Wes Moore validates this statement by saying, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” (Moore XI) The author, Wes Moore, shows the readers that a person’s environment, circumstances, education (or lack
In Wes Moore's book, The Other Wes Moore, he describes both his childhood and the early life of another boy of the same name who grew up near the author in the same Baltimore neighborhood. Moore's book explores the reasons why one boy, the author, succeeded in life while the other Wes Moore was overwhelmed by his struggles and will spend his life in prison. The author Wes Moore addresses different topics for the reader to take from the book.The ideas that are presented by him and should be recognised are the environment the boys grew up in, the motivation they got from family, and the influence from not having a father. The author Wes Moore has always had a supportive family while on the other hand the other Wes Moore had no one besides Tony, who even then was a big factor on why Wes is where he is at today. Their environment plays a big role in both of the boy’s life since they both were around the same things. The only difference is that one had a family who got him out of there to an environment that shaped him up to be the man that he is today and the one that never left will be the one that will never leave prison for the rest of his life.
As the novel “Wes Moore and the Other Wes Moore” processes, I noticed the little mistakes that the other Wes Moore is deciding to make him end up with a life sentence in prison. The little errors you make throughout your life can lead to a huge event in the future. The other Wes Moore started to mature when he decided to chase a kid with a knife. Then, he decided to become a drug dealer. Finally, his decision to shoot a kid.
The Other Wes Moore is a story that details two men, by the same name, living two very different lives in Baltimore, Maryland. The author’s story is of success. He left the Bronx to become a respectable citizen of society. While the other Wes Moore became a lifelong tenant of a federal person for his actions. The two life comparisons drive criminology theories of nature versus nurture for the black community. It asks the question if the author Moore was some fluke in the national statistics or did Wes really have his own hand in creating his destiny? Even though the men shared similar beginnings in an underprivileged neighbourhood, their lives diverged due to their family environment and personal perseverance. When at the time, they were
How do two boys with the same name who live within the same community end up with lives on two completely different paths? The author, Wes Moore, begins life in a tough Baltimore neighborhood and ends up a Rhodes Scholar, Wall Streeter, White House Fellow, etc. The other Wes Moore starts in the same place in Baltimore but ends up in prison FOR LIFE.
Book Review: The Other Wes Moore The Other Wes Moore illustrates and alternates between the lives of two men, both named Wes Moore, each born in the Baltimore area within a year of each other, and who both grew up fatherless while encountering many of the same experiences. The Other Wes Moore, tells the story of these two men and how vastly different their lives became not only because of their choices, but also the different environments the individuals grew up within. After both encountering the police in their adolescent years, the author, Wes Moore becomes a Rhodes Scholar, decorated veteran, White House Fellow and successful business leader; while the other, serves a life sentence for the murder. The author, Wes Moore attributes most of his success to his mother who prevented her son from falling into the same pattern as many other boys growing up in similar neighborhoods.
Baltimore, Maryland is one of the most dangerous cities in America, with over 41,000 crimes committed annually. Growing up as a kid in Baltimore was very strenuous, often times children grew up around drug activity and had little to no choice, but to follow in their peers footsteps. The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore is a good novel that brings you into the lives of two African American children living in Baltimore trying to find their way in a hostile world. Both characters grew up fatherless on street corners around drug activity, however, the rest of their lives are completely different. This novel dives into the life choices of two kids as they grow up learning about themselves. The choices they made determined how they would live the rest of their lives, one of the Wes’s would spend the rest of his life incarcerated while the other grew up to be a the first African American Rhodes Scholar. Although they have similar backgrounds, there are many differences that allowed their lives to diverge.
One’s childhood has a lasting impact on their entire life. Moore’s upbringing and the loving family he was born into, no matter how trivial it may seem, greatly contributed to his success. Wes seemingly grew up the same as any other kid in the Bronx – in a single-parent household, surrounded by bad influences… what separated him from the crowd? His support system: his family, and their ultimate support and sacrifices made all the difference. As a teenager, Wes seemed to be going down the wrong path. He constantly skipped school, his academic failures were overwhelming, and he was even arrested for vandalism. In the case of the other Wes, his family simply let these actions slide, and decision after decision ultimately landed him with a life sentence in prison. The author Wes’s mother, however, refused to allow this behavior to continue. As a method of intervention, she forced Moore to attend Valley Forge, and in doing so, probably saved his career. The extent of his family’s sacrifice was evident on page 95 when Wes realized that “my grandparents took the money they had in the home in the Bronx, decades of savings and mortgage payments, and gave it to my mother